Wednesday, May 11, 2011

HEREBY INVITING YOU TO JOIN ME

Hi, E-guerrilla followers-- Just wanted to let you know that E-Guerrilla is now at www.booksbnimble.com/blog . Well, actually I couldn't take the name with me, so I think I'd have to say E-guerrilla IS the blog  now known as  www.booksbnimble.com/blog/ . I'd sure appreciate it if you'd "follow" me there as well. It sure is nice having you here!

Just to complicate things further, I also have a second site and second blog as well! It's http://cursebustersbook.com/, where I blog as myself as well as the two characters in my new YA book,  CURSEBUSTERS! But that's all a huge job. So I'm trying to mostly post at  the cursebusters site during the next couple of months, since the book is just out. I'd love it if you could follow me there as well. (I'll also try to double-post on bbn  for your convenience, but I may not have time for the
pix! )  Love you, appreciate your kind attention, and hereby inviting you to stick with me!  Julie

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Weekend With the Grandes Dames


Margaret Maron
I seem to have grown up.  Last Thursday I took off for what I thought was going to be a weekend with the girls--aka Malice Domestic, a gathering of mystery fans and writers--and ended up hanging with the distinguished grandes dames Nancy Pickard,
Nancy Pickard
Margaret Maron, and Sue Grafton. About three days ago we were the Class of '82,  more or less ( that year, definitely, for Sue and me, '81 for Margaret and somewhere around there for Nancy).  We were all so bright-eyed and hopeful. Who knew what the next zillion years would bring?

Sue Grafton
But looking at the way the fans worshipped those ladies, I realize that, yes, my friends really have achieved grande dame status, and how lucky I am to have been in that class. We kicked some butt. We woke up the tired old cliche-ridden detective novel and breathed new life into it. It was a Renaissance!  So imagine my surprise when, about a year ago, I heard those exact same words come out of the mouth of  Dennis Lehane, with regard to HIS class, not surprisingly all boys except for Laura Lippman and S.J. Rozan, who received only glancing mentions. Maybe every generation of writers feels that way,

But I digress. (Sorry, that incident made quite an impression.) What I meant to say is that if you want a weekend of laughs and giggles, spend it with the grandes dames. What a great time!  Now Malice is a convention celebrating the "traditional mystery," which generally means one a good deal tamer than either Sue or I write. But she was there to be honored for  Lifetime Achievement and I was there actually as her most devoted friend, but officially to interview her.

Which I did, amid many more laughs and giggles, and if I do say so, I was able to uncover a major scoop regarding the iconic mystery writer.  I harangued her in the manner of Barbara Walters until she gave up the Youtube channel that uncovers the heretofore closely guarded secrets of her private life and revealed it to the assembled masses. Thus, the cat, to severely mix a metaphor, is out of the bag. This cat has feathers. For enlightenment, proceed instantly to YouTube and plug in the secret code:
stevenhumphrey6100 . And then eat this blog.